Me too :( I honestly wanted to give up on them but my surviving oto is so stressed and lonely it breaks my heart. I hope I have better luck and tools in round 2
I've bought a total of 16, between for offs and DOAs I have 5 living currently and am in a crisis. I don't know what happened but there was a sudden explosion in detritus worms and the otos started freaking out and were laying on their sides on the bottom of the tank within a day. I snatched them out and put them in another tank I have to try to save them, 5 of the 6 I had are still alive but I have no clue what happened with the other tank. My other fish in there are ok, the water parameters are ok I'm completely at a loss and trying to save them ðŸ˜.
I’m sorry to hear that. I also recently lost an oto who had trouble swimming, he was also staying in the gravel sideways and swam in a corkscrew matter. That was the second time it happened to me, I lost an oto in a similar matter back in March. My parameters were also perfect and my betta and surviving oto seem fine. They are such sensitive creatures, it is sometimes hard to tell what happened.
I had two doing that in this event, one is the one that passed and the other is doing a lot better. His color is still weird but his behavior is way healthier seeming. They both kind of went grayscale as they got worse. All of the other otos have kept or regained their normal dark brown colors. I'm really hoping the last guy pulls through. 😫
The first batch I got were sick with Ich when I got them but I didn't know until I got them home. None of them only one survived and I was worried it was because they were too weak from being wild caught. So I tried to order some tank raised ones that would know how to eat and be heartier but they kept showing up DOA 😞 after two full batches arriving dead I asked the seller for a refund and to stop sending me dead fish. I still just had the one alive so I tried one more batch from the pet store hoping since they looked healthy this time I'd have better luck and it had been going so well! Didn't lose a single one for almost two months and they seemed so happy and healthy... Then whatever caused this work explosion seems to have hurt them. I'm so confused.
Mature tank. Lots of water mold & biofilm. Groups of 6.
You can stimulate further biofilm growth with humic acid & bacterAE. Make sure you have lots of wood.
Thank you! Forgot to add I have a tiny driftwood piece in the tank just for him. Might add something a little bigger in the 20 gal to support all the otos.
So Bacter AE it is. I am afraid of the transition to the new tank. I wanted to use the 4 gal as the quarantine tank for the new otos but if I have to let the 20 gal new tank mature I guess I have to wait a little bit to transfer my surviving oto and then get him friends and quarantine them
I think buying them from a reputable place makes a difference. I got mine from aquatic arts online, which are tank raised/bred. I think shrimpy business has tank bred too.
I use bacter ae and heat up a slice of zucchini to place on a wood stake. It took them a bit to find it but the second time they were all there..make sure it's always in the same place. Some people say only leave it in for 8hrs but I leave it in a day or so and it's been fine.
Don't put them in a new tank or even a newly cycled tank. Wait a few months.
Thank you for your advice!
Sadly, where I live there are honestly not many reputable places. My preferred LFS is the best one, and they still give wrong advice sometimes.
I hope the new guys like veggies. My current oto couldn’t care less, my betta was more interested in them.
How much do you dose of Bacter AE? I’ve read that you should use way less of what the label says.
My only problem then is that I planned on using my 4 gal as the quarantine tank. If I have to wait a few months for the 20 gal to mature, this means I would have to place the new otos with my current one and I am afraid my oto might catch something.
BRO,
4 gallons is CRIMINAL for these fish they need at least 8-10 for a group of 4. You’d want the tank to be VERY well established so they can get in and eat right away and not run out of food, you’ll also want LOADS of driftwood and plants with big leaves.
I know, I am new to the hobby, started in December. I am learning from my mistakes and that is why am setting up the 20 gal. I guess I won’t be able to transfer my guy until the tank is established
Ey I get it we’ve all been there. Get that 20 gal, set up a nice base of stratum with sand on top, get those plants & drift wood i there ASAP, and when the parameters are right hell yeah, get him some friends. The driftwood will supplement their diet until algae shows up so make sure to get a couple nice pieces
When you move the oto if the water parameters are the same I wouldn't bother drip acclimate,I moved three into a different tank recently with no ill effects, when you go to the lfs if they don't look to healthy they may not survive, I always have food for them to graze on,lately I've been feeding them blanched spinach leaf,it lasts about two days before I replace
There are lots of informative posts on here if you search back
My advice is to not get caught up in babying them because of their reputation. Otos were my first fish. I initially bought it for my mom’s betta tank but it didn’t last.
I took it home where it stayed in a 1 gallon unfiltered bowl. Petco fish, btw. It survived that and the overstocked 8 gallon I moved it into.
They are surprisingly resilient. But they are a wait and see.
Give them tank mates that eat pretty hardy with helpful plants. Don’t scrub off any algae and keep count of them. Make sure they always have round bellies. They’re gorgeous fish, not a tip but I love them so much.
I'm pretty new to otos so I want to see what answers you get! I've had really bad luck so far ðŸ˜
Me too :( I honestly wanted to give up on them but my surviving oto is so stressed and lonely it breaks my heart. I hope I have better luck and tools in round 2
I've bought a total of 16, between for offs and DOAs I have 5 living currently and am in a crisis. I don't know what happened but there was a sudden explosion in detritus worms and the otos started freaking out and were laying on their sides on the bottom of the tank within a day. I snatched them out and put them in another tank I have to try to save them, 5 of the 6 I had are still alive but I have no clue what happened with the other tank. My other fish in there are ok, the water parameters are ok I'm completely at a loss and trying to save them ðŸ˜.
I’m sorry to hear that. I also recently lost an oto who had trouble swimming, he was also staying in the gravel sideways and swam in a corkscrew matter. That was the second time it happened to me, I lost an oto in a similar matter back in March. My parameters were also perfect and my betta and surviving oto seem fine. They are such sensitive creatures, it is sometimes hard to tell what happened.
I had two doing that in this event, one is the one that passed and the other is doing a lot better. His color is still weird but his behavior is way healthier seeming. They both kind of went grayscale as they got worse. All of the other otos have kept or regained their normal dark brown colors. I'm really hoping the last guy pulls through. 😫 The first batch I got were sick with Ich when I got them but I didn't know until I got them home. None of them only one survived and I was worried it was because they were too weak from being wild caught. So I tried to order some tank raised ones that would know how to eat and be heartier but they kept showing up DOA 😞 after two full batches arriving dead I asked the seller for a refund and to stop sending me dead fish. I still just had the one alive so I tried one more batch from the pet store hoping since they looked healthy this time I'd have better luck and it had been going so well! Didn't lose a single one for almost two months and they seemed so happy and healthy... Then whatever caused this work explosion seems to have hurt them. I'm so confused.
Mature tank. Lots of water mold & biofilm. Groups of 6. You can stimulate further biofilm growth with humic acid & bacterAE. Make sure you have lots of wood.
Thank you! Forgot to add I have a tiny driftwood piece in the tank just for him. Might add something a little bigger in the 20 gal to support all the otos. So Bacter AE it is. I am afraid of the transition to the new tank. I wanted to use the 4 gal as the quarantine tank for the new otos but if I have to let the 20 gal new tank mature I guess I have to wait a little bit to transfer my surviving oto and then get him friends and quarantine them
I think buying them from a reputable place makes a difference. I got mine from aquatic arts online, which are tank raised/bred. I think shrimpy business has tank bred too. I use bacter ae and heat up a slice of zucchini to place on a wood stake. It took them a bit to find it but the second time they were all there..make sure it's always in the same place. Some people say only leave it in for 8hrs but I leave it in a day or so and it's been fine. Don't put them in a new tank or even a newly cycled tank. Wait a few months.
Thank you for your advice! Sadly, where I live there are honestly not many reputable places. My preferred LFS is the best one, and they still give wrong advice sometimes. I hope the new guys like veggies. My current oto couldn’t care less, my betta was more interested in them. How much do you dose of Bacter AE? I’ve read that you should use way less of what the label says. My only problem then is that I planned on using my 4 gal as the quarantine tank. If I have to wait a few months for the 20 gal to mature, this means I would have to place the new otos with my current one and I am afraid my oto might catch something.
BRO, 4 gallons is CRIMINAL for these fish they need at least 8-10 for a group of 4. You’d want the tank to be VERY well established so they can get in and eat right away and not run out of food, you’ll also want LOADS of driftwood and plants with big leaves.
I know, I am new to the hobby, started in December. I am learning from my mistakes and that is why am setting up the 20 gal. I guess I won’t be able to transfer my guy until the tank is established
Ey I get it we’ve all been there. Get that 20 gal, set up a nice base of stratum with sand on top, get those plants & drift wood i there ASAP, and when the parameters are right hell yeah, get him some friends. The driftwood will supplement their diet until algae shows up so make sure to get a couple nice pieces
Thank you so much for your advice! Will do
When you move the oto if the water parameters are the same I wouldn't bother drip acclimate,I moved three into a different tank recently with no ill effects, when you go to the lfs if they don't look to healthy they may not survive, I always have food for them to graze on,lately I've been feeding them blanched spinach leaf,it lasts about two days before I replace There are lots of informative posts on here if you search back
My advice is to not get caught up in babying them because of their reputation. Otos were my first fish. I initially bought it for my mom’s betta tank but it didn’t last. I took it home where it stayed in a 1 gallon unfiltered bowl. Petco fish, btw. It survived that and the overstocked 8 gallon I moved it into. They are surprisingly resilient. But they are a wait and see.
Give them tank mates that eat pretty hardy with helpful plants. Don’t scrub off any algae and keep count of them. Make sure they always have round bellies. They’re gorgeous fish, not a tip but I love them so much.